Everyone knows North Dakota State’s mascot, Thundar, but most do not know who is behind the mask. Should the person behind the mask be revealed, or should they stay anonymous to maintain that mascot persona?

The mystery behind the mask is needed to keep the mascot disconnected from any one person. People forget there is someone behind the mask because Thundar has a personality, a story and NDSU teammates.

“You get to be famous, but no one really knows who you are,” one of the people behind the Thundar mask said.

No one thinks of the smelly head, the bodysuit falling apart from the inside out (since it’s about 10 years old) and the heat the person inside the suit has to endure. The anonymous source jokingly explained that part is “the glamorous side of Thundar.” People do not think about these things because at every event the mascot is jumping around, dancing, taking pictures, running and making Thundar’s personality larger than life. In the minds of fans, Thundar has been established as Thundar the mascot, and not the people behind Thundar that make the mascot what they truly are and what it takes to do so.

The importance of a mascot is to give a team’s fans a common ground. Everyone has their favorite team, but having that mascot gives you something to focus on other than the team itself. A mascot gives relief in between the waiting. A mascot gives children something to look up to and gives others something to look forward to seeing. The reason for the mystery is because the people behind the mask change so frequently. If people associate a person to a mascot, they would become “the person that plays Thundar” instead of Thundar themself. “You kind of forget that you’re in this hot, sweaty suit, and you kind of forget about all that stuff (being in front of many people), and you get to just embody this character,” Thundar said.

A mascot is our version of a celebrity. Thundar is the celebrity because of this anonymous person, because they refuse to give up their identity. People are able to see Thundar at games and events and only think of the bison rather than the human.

Thundar is a person. He’s actually a couple of people, but because of the hidden identities throughout the years, no one pictures Thundar as anything other than a bison.

People forget the importance of a mascot, even the people behind the mask. “Sometimes I forget how big of a symbol he is too until I see all the pictures of people with him,” an anonymous Thundar explained.

So the next time you go to an NDSU game or event and see Thundar stomp up and down the aisles, think about his importance, how without this mascot there would be no local celebrity for everyone to rally around. Without Thundar, Bison games just wouldn’t be the same.

But without the people inside the suit, there would be no Thundar.